This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

The sun shines in Florida and it seems to be particularly shining these days on the Panthers.

They are the hottest team in the NHL. Yes, the Panthers: the team with more alligators in their neighbourhood than fans in their seats, the focus of persistent on-the-move-to-Quebec rumours, and the club that has missed 13 of the last 14 post-seasons.

Heading into Monday night’s game in Vancouver, Florida . . .

Had won 12 game in a row, a club record. It’s also the longest streak in NHL history among teams that failed to make the playoffs the previous season.

Had won six in a row on the road, also a club record.

Article Continued Below

Was 22-3-2 when scoring first. Yes, the Panthers score first a lot.

Had lost just four times in regulation since Nov. 10, during a 21-4-1 run.

The secret to the Panthers’ success is talent-hunting general manager Dale Tallon. When you’re as bad as the Panthers have been, you’re bound to get some high draft picks. To his credit, Tallon has rarely missed since arriving in May of 2010.

Of course, Tallon has something else going for him: the ability to be patient. It’s not like the Florida fan base was clamouring for quick fixes by trading picks or rushing players. That’s because there really wasn’t a Panthers fan base.

The team was always on the edge of financial despair, playing to more empty seats than full ones. Their financial struggles got a boost when Broward County provided $86 million in relief on their arena lease. Crowds are better this year, but not great. The Panthers are 26th in attendance, but trending higher, with two recent home sellouts.

The question is: Are they for real?

Puck possession hockey is all the rage, and the 5-on-5 Corsi analytics that go with it. By those standards, the Panthers are not a very good hockey team, 26th at 47.2 per cent, according to war-on-ice.com.

The logic? Their flaws — mainly, an inability to control the puck — will catch up to them, especially if their goaltending, led by 36-year-old Roberto Luongo, collapses.

To that end, they might not ultimately be any better than the Avalanche, Leafs and Flames, whose most recent trips to the playoffs were, as Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy pointed out recently, the result of shooting and save percentages that were deemed to be unsustainable.

But let’s think outside the box. Everyone started playing the neutral zone trap when it ended firewagon hockey. Now everyone is aboard the puck-possession train that got around the neutral zone trap. Some brand of hockey will eventually beat puck possession as the game continues to evolve.

Maybe the talent-laden Panthers have the formula to make high shooting and save percentages more sustainable. Like the Maple Leafs of 13 months ago, the Panthers are being outshot regularly by wide margins, and winning anyway.

“It doesn’t bother me one bit,” coach Gerard Gallant told reporters in Edmonton on Sunday. “We’re in a good position right now. So if somebody says our analytics aren’t good and we’re still in first place, I’m pretty happy.”

Juniors a full-time job? Hockey Canada is considering hiring a full-time national junior coach. That’s one of the ideas floating around in the aftermath of Team Canada’s early exit from the world junior hockey championship. Currently, a major junior coach adds the national duties to his regular job. It’s a lot to ask, maybe too much in this day of specialization. A national junior coach could help in scouting, and also coach the under-18 players in their spring and summer tournaments. Continuity and familiarity are the goals. One name that came up: Guy Boucher.

Answer lies at home: Wild star Zach Parise chimed in over the weekend with advice for Steven Stamkos. Parise was in Stamkos’s shoes in 2012, in his free-agent year and torn between staying with the team that drafted him (New Jersey) and returning home to Minnesota. Parise chose home, something Leaf fans hope Stamkos, a Markham native, does. “If you’re going to decide to wait for (after) the season, go home and be by yourself,” Parise told the Tampa Times. “When you’re surrounded by everything, it’s tough to think of leaving. I’m not telling him to leave, but for me, the best thing is we went home just for a couple weeks (and) tried to figure out what to do.”

Kessel still struggling: Hands up if you thought Phil Kessel would have more than 12 goals and 12 assists through the halfway point of his first season in Pittsburgh? Post-trade predictions of 50 goals seem way off. He still has yet to hit 40 in one season in his career, and he might not get to 30 this season. The Penguins are on a 5-2-2 run but are still outside of a playoff spot. More was expected of them — and Kessel.

Playoff dogs: Louis Domingue, who may only be a household name in his own household, is a big reason why the Arizona Coyotes may actually get around to printing playoff ducats. They got off to a hot start thanks to young guns Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. But they’re hot now because of the goaltending of Domingue, 4-0-1 in his last five games, and 6-2-2 this season with a .936 save percentage. “He’s just dialed in right now,” says head coach Dave Tippett. Domingue is 23, a former fifth-round pick the Coyotes have brought on slowly.

Salary cap hell: The Red Wings have salary cap problems. With defenceman Kyle Quincey on his way back to the lineup, they needed to clear about $2 million in salary cap space. They put little-used defenceman Jakub Kindl ($2.4 million) on waivers. Nobody claimed him, so the Wings cleared a mere $950,000. The Wings would have been happier had Kindl been claimed. Now they’re forced to waive another player, or maybe even two. Forward Joakim Andersson is vulnerable but his $815,000 salary cap hit is not quite enough.

Dot dot dot: Former Leaf Richard Panik has not played in Chicago due to visa problems. When he does, he will get a shot on the top line . . . The Canucks are shopping Chris Higgins . . . The Blackhawks are shopping forward Bryan Bickell . . . How did the Blue Jackets end up not only with David Clarkson, but with the just-as-hard-to-move Rene Bourque and Jared Boll? The three have combined for three goals, three assists and $10.3 million in salary-cap space . . . The Red Wings gave Gustav Nyquist a four-year, $19-million contact in the summer with the expectation he would be a regular scorer. He has 12 goals in 42 games, none in his last nine . . . The knives are out for coach Michel Therrien with the Canadiens on a 5-13-0 skid.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com